1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sanitary wares, such as toilets, urinals, strainers for urinals, flush tanks for toilets or urinals, washbowls in washstands, or wash hand basins, and a process for producing the same.
2. Background Art
Good appearance and high cleanness are important for the surface of sanitary wares from the viewpoints of hygiene and aesthetic effect. Further, retention of good appearance and high cleanness for a long period of time is preferred.
In order to keep the surface of sanitary wares clean and to retain good appearance of the surface of sanitary wares, it is a common practice to strongly scrub the surface thereof by a scrubbing brush or a cleaning brush containing a detergent, such as a surfactant, an acid detergent, or an alkali detergent. Specifically, stains or soils deposited on the surface of sanitary wares are removed through utilization of chemical detergency derived from the detergent and through utilization of physical cleaning action by scrubbing with the scrubbing brush or the cleaning brush.
This cleaning work is not light, and, hence, reducing the frequency of the cleaning work is desired. Further, in recent years, environmental pollution by surfactant-containing wastewater has been pointed out. Therefore, reducing the amount of the surfactant used and the frequency of use of the surfactant is desired.
Under these circumstances, several proposals have been made on sanitary wares having a surface that is highly hygienic and has good appearance.
For example, coating of a fluororesin or a siloxane resin containing fluoroalkyl groups onto the surface of sanitary ware has been proposed to lower the surface energy, thereby permitting stains or soils to be less likely to be deposited onto the surface.
Another proposal is such that the surface of sanitary ware is made smooth as much as possible to prevent stains or soils from being deposited and strongly adhered onto the surface thereof. In this proposal, however, the relationship of the surface state to the inhibition of deposition of stains or soils, fastness, and glossiness has not been fully studied. Specifically, the sanitary ware having a smooth surface has been proposed based on such mere conceptual understanding that a smooth surface would inhibit the deposition of stains or soils thereon and would be preferred from the viewpoint of aesthetic effect.
The present inventors have now found that control of the surface state of a glaze layer can provide sanitary wares that are less likely to be stained and soiled and/or possess excellent gloss.
Accordingly, it is an object of the first aspect of the present invention to provide a sanitary ware that is less likely to be stained and soiled on the surface thereof and, upon deposition of stains or soils on the surface thereof, permits the stains or soils to be removed by a weak stream of water.
It is an object of the second aspect of the present invention to provide a sanitary ware that possesses excellent surface gloss.
It is an object of the third aspect of the present invention to provide a sanitary ware that is less likely to be stained and soiled.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sanitary ware comprising: a sanitary ware body; and a surface glaze layer provided on the sanitary ware body, the surface glaze layer having a center line average roughness Ra of less than 0.07 xcexcm as measured with a stylus type surface roughness tester according to JIS B 0651-1996.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sanitary ware comprising: a sanitary ware body; and a surface glaze layer provided on the sanitary ware body, the surface glaze layer having a kurtosis Rku of less than 2.70.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sanitary ware comprising: a sanitary ware body; and a surface glaze layer provided on the sanitary ware body, the surface of the surface glaze layer consisting essentially of a vitreous component and, in addition, being free from silica particles having a size of not less than 10 xcexcm.